Five Easy Tricks and Tips to Work Smarter, Not Harder

There are 24 hours in a day and seven days in a week. While all this time is available to any human, it is impossible to be productive throughout. You will need to rest, and there are also lots of distractions that will result in unproductive times.

It is not uncommon for people at the end of their workday to feel completely drained. During such time, they might feel like there is not enough time in the day.

Overworking reduces productivity and could result in various health complications.

Effect of overworking on your health

A study by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Labour Organization (ILO)  indicated that overworking kills hundreds of thousands yearly. The report showed that working more than 55 hours a week can harm your health.

Another study by researchers at the University College London discovered that people who overwork had a 13 percent higher risk of heart attack and are also 33 percent more likely to suffer a stroke.

People who overwork are likely to seek solace in substances like alcohol, especially when they feel overwhelmed or desire a temporary escape from reality.

Drinking too much alcohol over time may cause inflammation of the pancreas, resulting in pancreatitis. It can also increase the risk of developing heart-related health issues.

Workers who work 11 hours per day are also more likely to be depressed than those who work seven or eight hours.

Tips and tricks to work smarter, not harder

Achieving more with less effort is a common pursuit in professional and personal endeavors.

There are ways to efficiently utilize the few daily hours without overworking yourself.

Before highlighting the tips and tricks to work smarter and not harder, it is essential to set the record straight on what working smart means, as against working hard or overworking.

What does it mean to work smarter?

Working smarter, not harder, means harnessing your time and energy effectively at work by streamlining your workflow to accelerate task completion.

It means you are not working to clock more hours; instead, you are doing the right work to get the outcome you want.

How to work smarter, not harder

Below are some tricks and tips that will help you work smarter, not harder:

1. Leverage technology

Technological inventions are mostly to make human work easier and more efficient. Thanks to technology, it is now possible to communicate with people at far distances without the need to travel. Likewise, teams can collaborate without being in the same office.

Needless to say, technological tools such as an AI assistant can help you work smarter, not harder.

These tools are designed to undertake tasks like humans, saving you hours of work and stress. They can also handle complex tasks faster and with fewer errors.

2. Reduce your to-do list

It is vital to understand there are only a few hours in a day, and you also need to set aside a considerable amount of it for your health safety.

A massive to-do list will only put you under pressure and minimize your productivity. Reducing your to-do list to include the most essential daily activities can make your daily goal more achievable.

Also, adopt batching activities. This means that you tackle tasks in chunks. For instance, schedule specific times to check instead of repeatedly checking and replying to emails throughout the day.

This will improve productivity as you can simultaneously read and respond to more emails.

3. Quit multitasking

First, it is impossible to quit multitasking completely. You are aware of your surroundings while reading this.

However, reducing the number of activities you engage in at once is possible. Multiple research has shown that people who multitask are less productive. The human brain is wired to focus on one task at a time. According to experts, what you think of as multitasking is rapid task switching, which is inefficient and harmful to our cognitive performance.

When you switch tasks, your brain has to reorient itself, which takes time and energy. As a result, you make more mistakes and take longer to complete tasks when you try to multitask.

4. Delegate

This might be tough for perfectionists and team managers who are understaffed. Delegating tasks can get work done faster and also less stressful for everyone.

Be clear about the goals, expectations, and deadlines to reduce disappointment when delegating tasks.

Let the individual know why they were chosen and what the project means to the organization.

5. Manage your surroundings

One fact that has been established is that people waste time at work. For instance, over 50 percent of employees visit non-work related websites daily, while about 47 percent agree they waste time on non-work related activities.

To work smarter, reduce distractions around you as much as possible. It is a brainer that working with your kids running around or friends chatting a few distances away will make you less productive than being in a quiet room.